But she quickly realized embroiderers needed something more. They wanted a stuffed toy with a large area to embroider, and stuffing that could be removed and re-inserted quickly and easily. There was nothing like it on the market.

So she set to work inventing one.

“I spent three years working and re-working prototypes,” Donna explains. “At first I was going to use Velcro. However someone questioned whether the design would be childproof…so I tried a hidden zipper.

“Speaking to embroiderers, I sensed they were not too keen on having to stuff the bear with handfuls of loose stuffing. I decided to create a ‘pillow pouch’ in the shape of the bear’s belly that can be inserted and removed easily.”

And so, the Embroider Buddy® was born. Its simple, innovative design makes embroidery as easy as 1-2-3!

“The embroiderers needed a bear like Embroider Buddy®,” says Donna, “and it took someone in the toy business to create him. The demand for the original Embroider Buddy® bear was so strong that it wasn’t long until I started designing a line of embroidable stuffed animals and other plush products for embroiderers to create magic.”

With the popularity of Embroider Buddy® stuffed animals and the Easy as 1-2-3! Christmas Stocking, Donna saw embroiderers had an appetite for more easy-to-embroider high quality products. Donna recently introduced the Embroider Buddy® Home and Embroider Buddy® Holiday collections.